Mat.media: Mexico's high-tech content production agency

Mat.media is a new content production agency who specialize in creating high quality visual content for fashion brands, retailers and designers who want to sell their products online.

That means images of garments on models, shots of them up close on neutral backgrounds, and well-styled still life photos with the products as the main focus. Next to this, video production has entered Mat.Media's content mix

Based in Mexico City and co-founded by Fernando Marroquin, a photographer, and Rodrigo Marroquin Torres, who runs the operational side of the business, the company was founded in late 2016.

The duo now serve the growing content production needs of an industry worth an estimated 15 billion USD per year. Their goal? To 'provide the highest photographic quality, consistency and speed at the most competitive price in the market'.

What's going on in the Mexican market right now?

With a surge in demand for fashion in the last half decade, coupled with now widespread internet access, Mexico's apparel and accessories market is thriving. It's a trend that's looking to be onwards and upwards for a number of reasons.

As well as a longstanding garment manufacturing industry, Mexico's third biggest trade partner is China. Recent deals signed with Alibaba signify a shared economic vision between the Mexican Government and Jack Ma's group [Reuters].

With such strong financial hands being played already It's likely that trading between the two nations will be, if anything, increased by the pressures of the extant disputes with the Trump administration.

No matter how the puffing of chests ends, the eCommerce market in all Latin American countries have been identified as high growth potential areas [Business of Fashion]. And investments at this stage of growth, especially in technology, can be make or break factors in grabbing a strong foothold in a rapidly emerging market.

Mat.media's plan

It's Mat.Media's plan to dig their high-tech production methods in at an early stage and establish a trusted, high quality and competitively priced offer to e-tailers. They aim to do this through shrewd investment into their production workflow.

By making their photography faster and reducing their cost per photo, they can offer faster turnaround times and lower prices to brands and retailers who want their products meticulously snapped in high quality - at high quantities.

With the last piece of their cost-efficient production puzzle - live model photography and product video - now filled in with the addition of StyleShoots Live, Mat.Media are now set to go on a hot streak in one of the fastest growing eCommerce industries in the world.

"Through using StyleShoots machines, we can deliver our customers the highest quality of content with consistency and speed - at the most competitive prices"

- Rodrigo Marroquin Torres, Co-founder, Mat.Media

Mexico's growing eCommerce industry

Recently undergoing a series of economic spats with its outspoken northern neighbour, Mexico is looking inward to create a more powerful and self-sufficient environment for its industries. And one big area of focus is online retailing.

"eCommerce has grown at double-digit rates in the last five years and everything indicates that this trend is going to continue." says Erick Pérez, President of the Mexican Association of Online Sales. [Mexico News Daily]

Pérez goes on to add: “[But] being realistic, you have to say that e-commerce is still a small percentage of total retail sales in Mexico, around 1 to 2%"

Compare this to an average of 12 percent of all retail sales in the US being made via eCommerce [Digital Commerce 360]. That means there's massive untapped potential for brands to leverage the growing industry - as internet service penetration and consumer trust increases across its 127 million inhabitants.

By 2018 the number of internautas is expected to jump to 80 million - a whopping 21.1 million of whom are expected to become online shoppers as a younger, more trusting generation of online shoppers emerge. [Forbes]

New players in the game

This means that many big players are gearing up their business development in the tricolor nation. Behemoths Amazon and Alibaba are gearing up to fight mano a mano for the first time in the Mexican eCommerce arena - with digital heavyweight eBay also looking to win over the growing amounts of younger online shoppers . [Forbes]

Better yet, the fashion industry in Mexico is feeling the buzz as luxury and branded goods continue to prosper. Fashion and design trade show Caravana Americana, held in Mexico City, welcomed 30 percent more international buyers looking for 'fashion and crafted luxury goods' in March 2017 than previous year. [Business of Fashion]

Even the likes of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior, Burberry, Hermès, and Chanel have begun expansion efforts into the Mexican market. [Business of Fashion]

But the greatest business focus for local designers is their own local market, especially as the Trump dispute continues. “The attitude lately is ‘consume local,’ and many try to promote the boycott of US brands,” says Regina Barrios, co-founder of Caravana Americana. [Business of Fashion]

Predicted trends at a glance

Rapid internet uptake

In a country of over 120 million inhabitants, Mexico's internet penetration stands at around 58% (70 million).

By 2020, experts predict just under 70% of the population will have access, putting Mexico in the top 5 of world internet markets. [Statista]

Fashion to be king

The Mexican eCommerce market is currently dominated by personal electronics.

It's predicted that by 2020, Fashion will bypass this category in online sales and generate around 5 billion USD of eCommerce revenue [eShopworld]

With social media increasingly proving its worth for fashion retailers, the Mexican market is primed for brands to start pumping out higher quantities of content

Mat.Media's competitive tech advantage

Content production is one of the fastest growing areas brands are investing in as eCommerce continues to become the most vital area of focus for retailers. This means that websites and social media accounts need to be constantly populated with new imagery and product content.

Photographing products requires a high level of technical and creative expertise. It also requires a fully functioning studio filled with lights, cameras and often multiple sets to match production demands.

This means a great deal of capital investment must be put into content production, as well as accounting for day to day operational costs and high-value human resources.

In order to offer a high quality content production service to brands and e-tailers who aren't able to make this capital investment - or whom don't have the expertise to create professional content - Mat.Media added the full range of three StyleShoots machines to their operation.

By doing so, Mat.Media aim to pass on the time- and cost-saving benefits, helping them to expand their local client base at this critical stage of growth.

What tech are they using?

Horizontal

StyleShoots Horizontal is an all-in-one studio for flat lay photography. It has everything that you'd find in a photo set.

The machine removes the background of the garment so it's almost ready for publishing online.